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Third of Americans suspect 9-11 government conspiracy
Submitted by Thomas Hargrove on Tue, 08/01/2006 - 13:33.
Seventy percent of people who give credence to these theories also say they've become angrier with the federal government than they used to be.
By THOMAS HARGROVE
Scripps Howard News Service
More than a third of the American public suspects that federal officials assisted in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East, according to a new Scripps Howard/Ohio University poll.
The national survey of 1,010 adults also found that anger against the federal government is at record levels, with 54 percent saying they "personally are more angry" at the government than they used to be.
Widespread resentment and alienation toward the national government appears to be fueling a growing acceptance of conspiracy theories about the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
Suspicions that the 9/11 attacks were "an inside job" _ the common phrase used by conspiracy theorists on the Internet _ quickly have become nearly as popular as decades-old conspiracy theories that the federal government was responsible for President John F. Kennedy's assassination and that it has covered up proof of space aliens.
Seventy percent of people who give credence to these theories also say they've become angrier with the federal government than they used to be.
Thirty-six percent of respondents overall said it is "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that federal officials either participated in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or took no action to stop them "because they wanted the United States to go to war in the Middle East."
"One out of three sounds high, but that may very well be right," said Lee Hamilton, former vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also called the 9/11 commission.) His congressionally appointed investigation concluded that federal officials bungled their attempts to prevent, but did not participate in, the attacks by al Qaeda five years ago.
"A lot of people I've encountered believe the U.S. government was involved," Hamilton said. "Many say the government planned the whole thing. Of course, we don't think the evidence leads that way at all."
The poll also found that 16 percent of Americans speculate that secretly planted explosives, not burning passenger jets, were the real reason the massive twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed.
Conspiracy groups for at least two years have also questioned why the World Trade Center collapsed when fires that heavily damaged similar skyscrapers around the world did not cause such destruction. Sixteen percent said it's "very likely" or "somewhat likely" that "the collapse of the twin towers in New York was aided by explosives secretly planted in the two buildings."
Twelve percent suspect the Pentagon was struck by a military cruise missile in 2001 rather than by an airliner captured by terrorists.
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That lower percentage may result from an effort by the conservative Washington-based Judicial Watch advocacy group to debunk the claim. The group filed claims under the Freedom of Information Act and got two fill loops released from Pentagon security cameras.
"Some people claim they can't see anything, but I see a plane hitting the Pentagon at incredibly high speed," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "I see the nose of the plane clearly entering the frame of one video and the tail of the plane entering the Pentagon in the other video."
Many conspiracy Web sites have posted the video loops and report the films are inconclusive or were manipulated by the government.
"Some folks will never be convinced," Fitton said. "But I'm hoping that these videos will dissuade reasonable people from falling into a trap with these conspiracy theories."
University of Florida law professor Mark Fenster, author of the book "Conspiracy Theories: Secrecy and Power in American Culture," said the poll's findings reflect public anger at the unpopular Iraq war, realization that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction and growing doubts of the veracity of the Bush administration.
"What has amazed me is not that there are conspiracy theories, but that they didn't seem to be getting any purchase among the American public until the last year or so," Fenster said. "Although the Iraq war was not directly related to the 9/11 attacks, people are now looking back at 9/11 with much more skepticism than they used to."
Conspiracy-believing participants in the poll agree their suspicions are recent.
"I certainly didn't think of conspiracies when 9/11 first happened," said Elaine Tripp, 62, of Tabernacle, N.J. "I don't know if President Bush was aware of the exact time it was going to happen. But he certainly didn't do enough to stop it. Bush was so intent on having his own little war."
Garrett Johnson, 19, of Manassas, Va., said it was "well after the fact" before he started questioning the official explanation of the attacks. "But then people I know started talking about it. And the Internet had a lot to do with this. After reading all of the different articles there, I started to think we weren't being told the truth."
The Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University has tracked the level of resentment people feel toward the federal government since 1995, starting shortly after Timothy McVeigh bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City. Forty-seven percent then said they, personally, feel "more angry at the federal government" than they used to. That percentage dropped to 42 percent in 1997, 34 percent in 1998 and only 12 percent shortly after 9/11 during the groundswell of patriotism and support for the government after the attacks.
But the new survey found that 77 percent say their friends and acquaintances have become angrier with government recently and 54 percent say they, themselves, have become angrier _ both record levels.
The survey also found that people who regularly use the Internet but who do not regularly use so-called "mainstream" media are significantly more likely to believe in 9/11 conspiracies. People who regularly read daily newspapers or listen to radio newscasts were especially unlikely to believe in the conspiracies.
"We know that there are a lot of people now asking questions," said Janice Matthews, executive director of 911Truth.org, one of the most sophisticated Internet sites raising doubts about official explanations of the attacks. "We didn't have the Internet after Pearl Harbor, the Gulf of Tonkin or the Kennedy assassination. But we live in different times now."
Matthews' Web site averaged 4,000 "hits" a day last year, but currently has at least 12,000 visits every 24 hours. The site, according to its online policy statement, is dedicated to showing the public that "elements within the U.S. government must have orchestrated or participated in the execution of the attacks for these to have happened the way in which they did."
Participants in the poll were asked to respond to "several serious accusations that some people have made against the federal government in recent years." Five conspiracy theories were described and participants were asked if each was "very likely, somewhat likely or unlikely."
The level of suspicion of U.S. official involvement in a 9/11 conspiracy was only slightly behind the 40 percent who suspect "officials in the federal government were directly responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy" and the 38 percent who believe "the federal government is withholding proof of the existence of intelligent life from other planets."
The poll found that a majority of young adults give at least some credence to a 9/11 conspiracy compared to less than a fourth of people 65 or older. Members of racial and ethnic minorities, people with only a high school education and Democrats were especially likely to suspect federal involvement in 9/11.
The survey was conducted by telephone from July 6-24 at the Scripps Survey Research Center at the University of Ohio under a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation. The poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
(Thomas Hargrove is a reporter for Scripps Howard News Service. Guido H. Stempel III is director of the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University.)
There is always more then one version
all versions are theories until the science verifies them to be fact!
Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse?
http://www.physics.byu.edu/research/energy/htm7.html
Scholars for 9/11 Truth
http://www.st911.org/
It doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to see criminal negligence
It doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to note that they did all they could to slow, hamper downgrade, dismiss anti-terror measures, and even appear to encourage a terrorist strike on U.S. soil. Of course there is the PNAC statement that the Iraq invasion would not be possible absent a new "Pearl Harbor," but even absent that, their inaction alone amounts to criminal negligence.
It's all well and good to be disgusted with Clinton, who wasn't, but ignore his national security advisor when he says terrorism will be your number one priority? Accept the fat file he hands you but admit later it sat unopened on your desk until September 12? Cancel weekly to biweekly meetings on Bin Laden until September? Add layers between the NSAdvisor and the counter-terrorism czar, and ignore his warnings, delaying any meetings on the subject despite "flashing red lights" and "people running around with their hair on fire?" This just grazes the surface of their criminal inaction.
Then there's the Justice side. Look into John O'Neill, who resigned in disgust after being shut down as head of the Bin Laden task force.
These ruinous people have damaged our nation for decades and the Republican party may not ever recover.
I don't even need to read about squibs of smoke and the physics of steel melting at one-tenth its normal temperature.
Of course the voting system is broken and constitutional protections are trashed, so I could end up in some pogram just for reading and commenting on the news.
Sigh
Please watch this video and
Please watch this video and then decide who did 9/11
http://www.c-span.org/
“Theories about 9-11 (American Perspectives) (7/29/2006)â€
It was definitely an inside job
No doubt about it. I am also convinced they will start a war with Iraq or do another 9/11 to escapse the 9/11 Truth Movement.
9/11 media inside job
The notion "9/11 Inside Job" and "Controlled Demolition"
reveal only half of a meanwhile orwellianized truth.
The rest of it is collected here:
http://911tvfakery.blogspot.com
Everyone who agrees, should sign this petition:
http://www.petitiononline.com/911tvfak/petition.html
This is a complex issue
Sure, there are a lot of crazies spouting idiotic ideas about 9/11, but if you really do the research, you will find a preponderance of evidence that demands another investigation. The issue is far more complex than 9/11 Nutcases vs. Bush/Cheney. It's time intelligent people began looking at the gray areas. If this is not your calling, fine. But please don't oversimplify this topic, jump to conclusions, or spout opinions without examining the available evidence for yourself. Don't trivialize this as "just another conspiracy theory." The implications here are critical for our democracy.
Pakistani ISI is the smoking gun of US complicity
Everyone needs to research the Pakistani ISI(intelligence) funding and involvement in 9/11, and realize they were just the proxy to al Qaeda.
ALSO, today's Washington Post: Pentagon Lying About 9/11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/01/AR2006080101300_pf.html
For all the liberals and conversatives calling us nuts, keep believing that Oswald acted alone...that the anthrax came from Iraq, Bush won the election fair and square and that Iraq has WMD's.
Something is CLEARLY wrong with the official version of 9/11, and it's being used to justify war after war.
Liars and Murderers
It was definitley an inside job!! We have to wake up the sheeple to the Governments crimes.
If you don't believe any of this just do a little research, there are so many unanswered questions, questions that are simply ignored and never talked about by officials.
We live in a world where communication and information flows more easily than it ever has done before. 9/11 videos and documents are being studied by millions of people all over the world and every day more and more join. All these people decide by themselves that something is very, very wrong. . .
If you are watching and reading the mainstream news you are watching PROPAGANDA!!
Boycott Faux news!
John Ashcroft
My favorite from the whole 9/11 experience is this CBS News article from JULY 26, 2001 which states:
"In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a "threat assessment" by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term. Now, after the fact, the government says this article is not true, never happened, dunno what you're talking about, move along here."
But they haven't gotten ahold of the Ministry of Truth yet.
misquoted
that previous post was misquote, I ended it after my personal commentary, it should read:
"In response to inquiries from CBS News over why Ashcroft was traveling exclusively by leased jet aircraft instead of commercial airlines, the Justice Department cited what it called a 'threat assessment' by the FBI, and said Ashcroft has been advised to travel only by private jet for the remainder of his term."
That _was_ my favorite. But
That _was_ my favorite. But the more I think about it, the best is Bush's statement that he saw the first plane hit the Trade Center before he went into the classroom. How could Bush's memory be mistaken about that? I can still vaguely picture my classroom and the loudspeaker over which it was broadcast that Kennedy was shot (and a commentator's live reference to the "grassy knoll"). I know what I was doing when Challenger exploded and I know where I was watching NBC when I saw the second plane hit "live".
But the first plane wasn't broadcast live. If Bush saw it live, they had a closed cam trained on the Center that they were watching from down there in Florida. News footage of the first plane striking was collected later from tourists and the like who just happened to be at the right place at the right time with a camera.
9-11
It's encouraging to think that Americans just might be waking up from that Kool-aide induced coma most of them have been in since Rove and the MSM started spinning their twisted propaganda and serving it to the masses. I still find it very difficult to believe that my fellow Americans have so readily accepted scandals, bribery, corruption, loss of freedoms, outsourcing of jobs and a war based on lies. They succeeded in dividing and conquering our nation and we will NEVER get it back until we stand together to bring these criminals to justice and take our country back.
911
A wake-up call is good. The truth, however late, will set us free.
Tom Dennen from Africa
1/3 of all Americans
It should read that all Americans believe hat 911 was an inside job. This is the saddest story that I had to witness personally as an adult. Why is it that all non white and non americans KNOW that 911 was an inside job? Why is it that this nation has fallen asleep while the entire universe knows that criminals are housed in the White House and that no one will ever trust us again. This inside job was so obvious that the blind could see it when it occurred.
I
I have tried to explain this many times... what Bush was saying was that he "saw a plane hit the tower."
This is analogous to saying "I saw a huge accident on the freeway."
Of course I didn't really "see" the accident occur, all I really saw was ambulances, wreckers, cops, an overturned semi, and 5 other wrecked cars.
Note I'm not a Bush shill. lol. He's guilty as sin, just not with that statement!
daggone libruls
You liberals are all the same. Everybody knows that Bush is the security president. (He's just leaving the border wide open to lull the terrists into a false sense of security.)
And u need to get your facts straight. The steel did not melt at 1/10 it's normal temperature, it melted at 1/5 it's normal temperature. sheesh. :O
Bush shill LOL
You are mistaken. He specifically states that he saw the first plane hit and his thoughts were "Gee - that guy must have been a lousy pilot." You cannot possibly have this thought if you are watching the second airplane hit because the first is already pouring out smoke.
proof in the planning
why would al kay da plan a crime that on paper does not succeed.
On paper the planes get busted in mid air////LET ME ASK U THIS>>>>>WOULD YOU PREMEDITATE A ROBBERY AT A POLICE STATION??
NO CRIME THAT FAILS ON PAPER IS EXECUTED UNLESS SPONTANEOUS!!
Thank you for your even-handed article!
Whatever you do, don't mention Building 7. Oh, and make sure you bring up UFOs, and Bigfoot, too, because, hey, everybody knows these people are wacko, right? Yeah, I know the media are owned by just five corporations, but hey, corporations are people, too, aren't they? They care about me! I'm more likely to consume if I'm properly informed, right? Sure! So I can relax, right? Thanks for reassuring me! And thanks especially for not bringing up the incontrovertible talking points, like thermate detected in WTC steel sample and Building 7! I wonder what's on TV... I bet THEY'RE telling me the truth! Boy, we sure better clamp down on this pesky internet before the People start talking with each other and Common Sense has a chance to resurface! Phew! That was close! Woah, they might sell the Supersonics! No! Go, Mariners! Woo-hoo! WWIII! Yee-haw!
Actually...
According to Alex Jones, and (I believe) Webster Tarpley, there was a drill going on that day, in the exact location where the Naudet Brothers film comes from, called Operation TRIPOD. Go figure: Tripod, get it? Tripod!? Come on. It apparently involved a tripod and a camera. Jeez. But let's just focus on Building 7 and Thermate!
Why Are Not More Christians already aware of 9/11?
What I want to know is Why Are not More Christians not already aware of this 9/11 truth movement????
I'm a Christian and the BIble says we should always "Prove all things" and Not support men who like to be seen and sit in the upper seats and greeted as the "Christian President" George W Bush. A "Christian President" who likes to spend his time once a year pow wowing at the Bohemian Grove, Caifornia where the elites and a bunch of old men get dresssed up in red and black robes, do a mock sacrifice of an effigy of a child (sacrifice) and cite some santainc prose as they throw the effigy into the burning fire in front of a this Large stone OWL also known in the Old Testament scriptures as Moloch.
Why are Christians not more aware of the evil of their own nation and its unholy leaders. Can't they see through the lies?
And what's with "Christians United For Israel" CUFI this latest group by John Hagee worshiping the golden calf of antichrist Zionism... as it funds the israli war machine to butcher more inocents in the middle east...again?
My peopel seem truly to be destroyed for lack of knowlege
My pathetic website has lots of articles on 9/11, 7/7 other topics. Since I woke up in 2004 after the being in a conservitive news fog of World Net Daily and like "Christain conservative" media which have not told us the truth about topics like 9/11.
I am so glad Americans are waking up, But Why is the Church still alseep?
Wake up my People
Come out of Babylon!
Go to CSpan www.prisonplannet.com or Infowars.com or www.Whatreallyhappened.com for 9ll info or visit my front page bottom for several excelent videos on 9/11 truth.
May God help everyone expose this Issue.
May Christain stop supporting the war machine in the middle east. Peace
Very true...Questioning the Gov't Account in Not Crazy
Being a New Yorker who was only a few blocks away from the WTC not too long after the attack, I was very interested in how this could happen -- all the government's failure to prevent the scope of the attack.
The principal fact that bothers me to this day is why WTC 7 fell when not hit by any planes or significant debris -- the jet fuel "factor" simply was not an issue. Yet, several hours after the fall of the towers, Building 7 falls at almost free-fall speed. The FEMA report has concedes that it "could not determine" why it fell. The rate of WTC 7's fall is contrary to basic physics. How could the 9/11 Commission overlook inquiry into this?
Questioning many of the holes in the "Official Account" is not nutty. Add to the fact that the Bush Administration is, to be kind, less than candid on any issue, is it not reasonable to wonder what the Administration really knows about 9/11?
fact v. fiction
as if on cue, the 9/11 Commission has just announced that they felt they were being misled and misinformed by the DOD, but decided not to escalate their concerns to DOJ (as if the same Ashcroft who classified the testimony of Sibel Edmonds would've cared that the 9/11 Commission wasn't getting the 'full story').
two wars and nearly 3000 US casualties later, and the bin laden unit has just been shut down...
thanks for waiting to tell us, guys. it's really helped alot.
(i made a short song/video that tries to sum up most of what doesn't make sense about 9/11 in just under six minutes, feedback is welcome and appreciated: skeptosis.blogspot.com and/or myspace.com/skeptosis)
steel and concrete
Being a Boilermaker for 33 years I knoww that steel does not burn withe jet fuel or how would the jet engine survive. Someone demo,d those buildings and that,s a fact Jack.....
Oops, you did it again ...
Suspicions that the 9/11 attacks were "an inside job" _ the common phrase used by conspiracy theorists on the Internet _ quickly have become nearly as popular as decades-old conspiracy theories that the federal government was responsible for President John F. Kennedy's assassination and that it has covered up proof of space aliens.
JFK assassination?
Space aliens?
You just had to put those in your survey too huh? Sigh.
Duh
Of course more than a third believe it was an Inside Job. It was and people aren't stupid. Now, if only the ontly two thirds would wake the hell up, we'd be well on our way to a better world.
face it...
(1) massive voter fraud (80% of u.s. voting goes through 2 corporations, each of which is primarily controlled by one of two brothers [ yes, one is diebold])
(2) cheney's comment 'we need another pearl harbor' - umm, why? to incite the people to war, put them in fear so that they'll invest authority in those who deserve none (the feds)
(3) the federal reserve / world bank basically controls the world financially - which means they make the rules. period.
(4) iraq > iran > syria > lebanon > sudan, etc. gee, now why would they make up all sorts of bullshit reasons to invade these miserable countries? oh, maybe because that way they can completely dominate the world's energy resources and thus the world. duh.
(5) the world trade center was no doubt an 'inside job'. just dig a bit, it's not hard to find facts that completely discount the official bull shit
(6) what's up with all these new detention centers being quietly built across the country? and I'm not talking mere prisons. these are being built for LARGE populations
(7) not trying to be a fear monger here, but if you're not seriously concerned you're not paying attention.
"The poll found that a
"The poll found that a majority of young adults give at least some credence to a 9/11 conspiracy compared to less than a fourth of people 65 or older. Members of racial and ethnic minorities, people with only a high school education and Democrats were especially likely to suspect federal involvement in 9/11."
Interesting demographic.
Based on what I've seen on various Internet sites, I would suggest that libertarians and paleoconservatives are also likely to be suspicious of federal involvement in 9/11.
But then, they're suspicious of federal government in general. ;-)
Democrats and minorities tend to trust the federal government otherwise -- especially when it's in liberal hands.
ROFL @ ALIENS
Aliens did 911, and took Saddam's WMD to Syria. No wait, Iran did it, with help of Kim Jong Il and Hugo Chavez, oh and scientists. Saddam is innocent, except, of course for the Oklahoma City federal bldg.
Seriously, the next time someone laughs at 911 "conspiracy theories", ask them: isn't a caveman and 19 inept pilots the real whackjob conspiracy theory?
Also, to the poster who wrote (paraphrasing) "why would al qaeda execute a plan which would certainly fail? The planes would be intercepted."
Duh, I never thought of that. Thanks.
WHERE'S THE DISSENTION? No "official story" shills on here? I guess, like Paul McCartney's ex, they don't have a leg to stand on. Old joke sorry.
Check out the new videos at http://www.americanscholarssymposium.org if you haven't already.
And for your daily "what's up?" I'd highly recommend http://www.whatsreallyhappening.com
Peace or something.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=911_morons k, shh.
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